With the advancements made in battery technology, smart batteries are continuing to be developed to faciliate power management operations. Smart battery packs typically include an integrated circuit and supporting circuitry that monitor various battery parameters as part of a power management scheme supported by a charger or radio coupled to the smart battery pack.
Storage of battery packs having the additional smart battery circuitry tend to self-discharge faster than those without the smart battery circuitry. The increase in self-discharge is the result of the smart battery circuitry load on the cells within the pack. The increase in self-discharge of a smart battery pack is exacerbated for certain cell technologies, such as lithium-ion (Li-ion), that require a 30 to 50 percent charge state for precautionary shipping purposes. When the time comes to put such battery packs in service, possibly a year later, the battery packs cannot be used, because the cells are so deeply discharged as to be non-recoverable. Thus, the self-discharge problem of smart battery packs can be a costly concern from a storage or inventory standpoint.
Accordingly, there is a need to minimize self-discharge of a smart battery pack.
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The apparatus components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.